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Watch Mike Nichols' Vintage Beer Ads

Iconic Director Voiced a Kangaroo in Jax TV Campaign

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Hollywood icon Mike Nichols died this week at the age of 83. A prodigious director and performer, Mr. Nichols directed roughly two dozen movies, including "The Graduate," "Catch-22" and "The Birdcage." Along the way, he won an Oscar, four Emmys, nine Tonys and a Grammy award.

What's lesser known is that early in his career when Mr. Nichols was part of a comedy duo with Elaine May, they appeared in a series of animated TV commercials for the now-defunct Jax beer.

"It was the most fun doing commercials, I think, for us both," Ms. May told Vanity Fair.

The commercials were created by the Fitzgerald advertising agency, according to Peter Mayer, founder of Peter Mayer Advertising in New Orleans, where Jax's parent company and its agency was located.